How to help children and the caravan.

Updated 12/02/18

Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance. ~Robert Kennedy, June 6, 1966, Cape Town S. Africa (Thanks, Michelle at Small Deeds Done)

Use Social Media to help travelers in the caravan.

PHONE CALLS: You can make phone calls to your legislators and sign petitions to protest against illegal and unjust efforts to bar arrivals from seeking asylum in the States through misuse of the military, an ever-narrowing definition of what constitutes a legitimate asylum claim, and the proposal to spend billions on a borderwall

SOCIAL MEDIA: You can use #socialnetworking to support and share their story, to counteract the racist and scaremongering narratives being spread by the right. Learn about the root causes of this migration and explain it to your friends and family in contexts they can relate to.

You can use #socialnetworking to point out the injustice and hypocrisy of denying migrants who are not in the asylum-seeking category the opportunity of seeking better economic opportunities in the States when US military #history has actively contributed to their state of disadvantage.

The US has actively contributed to (and continues to contribute to) #climatechange which is making traditional agricultural livelihoods untenable.

Many of the critics of immigration will be descended from ancestors who came here as immigrants, many of whom were seeking a better life rather than escaping persecution.

You can donate or volunteer to help the caravan.

Al Otro Lado: They are a bi-national, direct legal services organization serving indigent deportees, migrants, and refugees in Tijuana, Mexico. The bulk of their services are immigration-related. Donate here.

Volunteer:You can #volunteer to travel to the border with one of several solidarity/sanctuary caravans to stand with the travelers and act as witnesses to their treatment. Some of the groups also have remote-support needs.

SanctuaryCaravan.org,– this one also offers volunteer opportunities for local organizing or fundraising, housing migrant families, or housing volunteers by the border. They need lawyers, photographers/writers/videographers, artists, graphic designers, tech support people.

Border Support – wide range of needs, with on-site and remote support opportunities.

Al Otro Lado:They need immigration attorneys, paralegals, doctors, nurses, EMTs, social workers, mental health professionals, art therapists, and nice people who want to help out! No special skills are required to volunteer – just let us know a little more about you in the application. As volunteer needs arise, we will email them out to the list. Volunteer opportunities are available in Tijuana, Los Angeles, and remotely. Sign up here.

Help The Kino Border Initiative– The Kino Border Initiative (KBI) is a Catholic binational organization located in Arizona and Mexico. Their vision is to help make humane, just, workable migration between the U.S. and Mexico a reality. Along with humanitarian aid and advocacy, they provide immersive experiences for adults and teenagers who want to better understand what’s happening. They and their partner, the Florence Project are recruiting volunteer pro bono attorneys who speak Spanish, have experience in asylum law and can make at least a five-day commitment at the border.

Donate to the workers taking food and supplies out onto the Brownsville Matamoros International Bridge.

Help new immigrants granted entrance to the US.

Since October 26, Immigration Authorities have been vetting families seeking asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border and releasing them – without resources or transportation – at the Port-of-Entry and other locations in San Diego. Desperate and in need of help, they are arriving at a Migrant Shelter in San Diego run by the San Diego Rapid Response Network (SDRRN) , a coalition of human rights and service organizations working for the protection of immigrants and their families.

Help Veterans and Indigenous people put together a “Asylum Seeker Caravan Support Network base camp in southwest CA.

2 weeks ago, a call went out to the veterans that served together at Standing Rock. Now, they are traveling southward from Seattle and northern California. They are tasked with organizing an Asylum Seekers Caravan Support Network base camp in southwest CA. They will work under the direction of local indigenous leaders serving the Tijuana, Mexico area. Native Americans have sovereign right to their lands and there is talk of inviting the Asylum Seeking migrants to safety with them.

For both kids and the caravan, here’s how to donate money

We can donate to eight organizations fighting this issue in one step here. This link also has information about each of these agencies if we want to contribute individually. Congressman Joe Kennedy III‘s campaign is matching the first $25,000 donated.

RAICES: This Texas-based organization offers free and low-cost legal services to immigrant children and families.While legislation to help separated families crawls through Congress, here is a direct action:
Help pay the bonds to get parents released here. Donate here and on Facebook, here. sign up as a volunteer here.

Border Angels: This California-based organization supports San Diego County’s immigrant population and focuses on issues related to the U.S.-Mexico border. Donate here.Become a volunteer or intern here.

Donate/volunteer here with Immigrant Families Together.

Donate your frequent flyer miles

Lawyer Moms of America has been contributing airline miles and money to people in shelters along the border, making it possible for those who have achieved asylum to leave and make space for new arrivals.

Hundreds of children remain separated from their families, and it’s looking like the government could care less. One of the ways we can help turn the tide is by donating **frequent flyer miles** (and other needed items) to advocacy groups like Michigan Support Circle: “We help support the reunification of families by providing rides, housing, clothing and other essentials once the families have been released.” We can enquire here for more info. Also, check out hellovuelo

Help PROJECT LIFELINE.

Since the US government is either unable or unwilling to provide for basic needs of immigrant detainees – sufficient water, food, hygiene products, blankets and warm clothes, humanitarian relief organization, PROJECT LIFELINE, is declaring the crisis and taking first action to help where our government has fallen short. They are planning two caravans, one leaving from Houston and another from San Antonio and need to collect enough supplies to fill an 18-wheeler (semi) truck and 20-30 cars / trucks. We can contribute to their Amazon wishlist link, then share with our friends on social media.
Their Facebook page is here and their email is projectlifeline2018@gmail.com.

Babysit.

EveryChildReturned.com gives us another way to bring notice to the displaced families. “This website contains an evolving list of every location reported by major press outlets to be caring for or placing separated babies and children. We call on concerned citizens to take a shiftby choosing a facility near them and making time each week to sit watch — for an hour or a few — until every child has been reunited.” Let’s take a look and see where we can help.

Talk about it. A lot. Not everyone listens to the news.

According to CBS News, 90% of Democrats polled find the practice of separating kids and families to be unacceptable. Republicans are “more divided” with 39% saying it’s unacceptable and 1 in 5 saying they have not heard enough about it to say either way. If someone in your circle hasn’t heard about this, tell them, and tell them that you’re not standing for it.

Do you have computer skills?

CALLING ALL TECHIES! RAICES, the Immigrants’ Rights group working to reunite families separated at the border, needs us. We can help build a database to #ReuniteTheFamilies! They are looking for UX/UE Designers, HTML, CSS, JS, NODE JS, Python, C++, Ruby, Angular JS, Docker, MongoDB, CouchDB, MySQL, Postgres, Riak ESPECIALLY. While the first priority is connecting the adults with legal aid so they can process through the system quickly and be reunited with their children, RAICES is also looking for an advisory board and a list of tech volunteers to call upon for future projects. If we have technology skills, or can refer someone who does we can check out the Crisis Code website and sign up here: https://www.crisiscode.com/ or contact Erin DeRuggiero at erin@crisiscode.com

Share yourself.

Teach your own kids empathy.

With this story pouring out of every smartphone, television and radio in our country, our children may be worried about the idea that kids are being taken from their parents. Parents may need to reassure their kids that they are safe, but there are other topics of conversation that can help our kids keep future children safe. By talking about empathy and kindness with our kids we can raise kind, empathic people who won’t let this happen to the next generation’s children.

Hold corporate collaborators responsible.

Sleeping Giants (who leads the charge against companies who advertise on Breitbart) and GrabYourWallet (aka Shannon Coulter who leads the boycotting of Trump-related products) have discovered the names of two companies are financially benefiting from the child separation policy: : A) MVM Inc. (Twitter: @MVMINC Phone: (571)223-4500), and B) General Dynamics (Twitter: @GDMS “Ethics helpline”: 800-433-8442). Let’s contact them by phone, Twitter, or by using the email addresses listed here to tell them what we think:

Hello,
It has come to my attention that your business is holding immigrant children in jails. They are children and asylum seekers. They should not be separated from their parents and they shouldn’t be in concentration camps. Please ask your leadership to back out of this contract as there is no way to justify this.

Thanks,
[You]

Protest

Check out our events listing for the latest protests in this area. There’s a big one coming up on June 30th.

We had over a hundred people turn out in Ventura for our Families Belong Together Rally. Thanks to all who attended for taking an important step in the fight to help immigrants and their kids…visibly standing up and reminding our community that wrong is being done in our name.

Donate skill

Translators of Meso-American languages.RAICES (Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services) needs volunteer translators “who speak Meso-American indigenous languages (e.g. zapotec, nahua, ma’am, quich’e, maya, mixe, mixteco– not Spanish).” Do you know anybody? They don’t need to be in Texas, or even in the US. They can translate remotely. For more info or to help, email: volunteer@raicestexas.org

Lawyers:The children running for their lives will not have legal support for any potential asylum, or other, hearing they will face. However, attorneys who can provide pro bono legal services for these children can find out how to to help these children here. Lawyers, find out which organizations provide services near you and apply to be added to their list of free legal service providers. Thanks!

Lawyers, Paralegals, Law Students!:A representative of the CARA Family Detention Pro Bono Project tweeted yesterday afternoon: Attys, Paralegals, Law Students! If you speak Spanish & can aid detained parents & children in Texas (6-day stint), contact CARA Family Detention Project! The need is urgent! If you don’t speak Spanish but can find an interpreter-partner that wd help too. If we call into any of those categories, we can learn more here.

Immigrants with legal counsel are more than 10 times as likely to succeed in their cases as detained immigrants without a lawyer. Yet, the great majority of immigrant detainees, especially in the Southeast, are not represented.

Nurturing and Caring Foster Care Parents:When refugee and immigrant children arrive in the United States without a parent or loved one to provide the shelter, security and sustenance they deserve, Catholic Charities is one of the agencies that provides specialized foster care services. This foster care program for children leaving federal detention facilities is extremely important for children who are:

Unable to name any family members or appropriate sponsors

Facing prolonged immigration cases that make their future uncertain

Hindered from returning to their home country in a timely manner

Engaged in in-depth interviews or a gradual transition to family reunification

At risk for and possible victims of trafficking, trauma or torture

To learn more about becoming a foster parent through Catholic Charities, visit our website here. All foster parents must meet eligibility requirements and pass a background check.

Or check out this group… If you’ve been moved to tears after listening to these babies and you would like to help in a more tangible way, you can keep some of these children in your home. Check out the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service site for more.

Donate money and/or goods.

The Florence Project, in Arizona, has put together a list of items we can send to comfort immigrant and refugee children in this Google Doc.

Write the appointed officials listed below.

Our nation has a moral responsibility to protect children and treat them with basic decency, regardless of immigration status. The inhumane practice of separating children from parents as an immigration deterrent must stop. As a taxpayer funding this egregious neglect of duty, I urge you to take full and immediate responsibility for ensuring children’s well-being and safety. Keep families together. Stop locking them up. Sincerely, [name, state] (h/t)